Best fruit trees for Southern California

last year

Hi! im looking to plant 2 fruit trees, and was wondering if anyone could recommend good fruit trees. I am located in zone 9 (or sunset zone 18). I was thinking one common fruit (example: apple, peach, avacado, mango etc.) and one uncommon unique fruit (soursop, starfruit, sugar apple etc.)

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CA Kate z9

last year

I know citrus will do good, and probably Avocado, Mango and Kiwi (which is a vine), but otherwise you have to pay attention to needed Chill Hours for each kind of tree, otherwise it will grow but bear no fruit. Beware of Big Box stores; they'll carry whatever, even if it won't do well in your area.

Comments (11)

socalgal_gw Zone USDA 10b Sunset 24
last year
Here’s an article about low chill fruit trees

Low Chill Fruit Trees
HU-622889343 thanked socalgal_gw Zone USDA 10b Sunset 24
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many fruit trees will do well containers on the west facing side, but will also need protection from the hot summer sun with shade cloth for many years until a fuller canopy develops. the pot itself should always be shaded in our summer climate to avoid overheating roots. you'll need a larger sized container if you expect to hold a decent Amt of fruit. I've nectarines , citrus, cherry and blueberries both standard & dwarf stock in containers. You could add more citrus, like any of the 4winds 'dwarf' trees (most retail ones are on trifoliate). Or true dwarf peach, nectarines, or apricot on from Dave Wilson nursery (nectazee, honey babe, pixiecot, etc). you could buy new 'standard' full size trees & they tend to dwarf naturally dropped in the container, but the trees listed above are a little easier when you're starting out.
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I will add: Camphor Tree, if you have enough space, the roots can be expansive. The leaves smell aromatic. This can be a big tree and should not be planted too close to the house or sidewalks. Pepper Tree Spanish Cork Oak, they are drought tolerant and don't get too big, and have amazing squishy bark, this is where cork stoppers on wine bottles come from. Pomegranate grows exceptionally well in this climate. Even if you don't like eating them the fruits can be very decorative hanging from the tree, and the tree also produces pretty fiery orange blossoms. Pomegranate usually grows more like a giant bush-tree though, not really the best for shade. A lot of people have never tried a truly fresh pomegranate right off the tree, they taste much much better when really fresh. And a lot of people do not know the proper technique for cutting open a pomegranate and removing the arils, so they wrongly think eating pomegranate is too much work and too messy. When it comes to Mulberry trees, Persian Black is by far the best tasting variety. However, if you're in climate zone 10 Pakistan Mulberry will grow better and is also a good tasting variety, with larger fruit size too. If you go with a fruitless male Mulberry (as some people do to avoid all the messy berries falling), there could be pollen allergy issues (if not you, someone else in the neighborhood). The Black varieties are the best tasting, but the black berries can make a mess on the ground and stain the sidewalk, or get tracked indoors on your shoes on the carpet, so that's something that should be considered. Another little fact, mulberry leaves are not poisonous and can be fed to pigs or goats, a favorite food of silkworms too. Mulberry trees have beautiful shade foliage. If you're looking for some more exotic choices you might also see this thread: Sacred trees in India
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gardengirl37232
last year
Citrus does great. Additional ones you may want to consider are mulberry, figs, and pomegranate, all of which do well in California and are drought tolerant. With avocado, you need two trees to get pollination or a tree with grafted type A and type B varieties so keep that in mind.
HU-622889343 thanked gardengirl37232
L K
last year
Don't forget the Jujube. They love hot weather and tolerate drought and cold well too. But I'd grow them in containers as they have thorns and have a tendancy to root propagate themselves. They're difficult to remove if that happens. As for me, I don't care if that happens because that gives me more rootstock to graft a tastier variety onto.
HU-622889343 thanked L K
clarkejpznorcal
last year
We love our nectarine tree - great crop this year Zone 9
HU-622889343 thanked clarkejpznorcal
newsview63
last year
I'm in the same zone. None of the neighbors have citrus trees. Winters are too cold for Key Lime so I keep it in a pot and bring it indoors (not a fan of fertilizing flowers though). I bought a dwarf Washington Orange four years ago for better frost tolerance but still haven't had any fruit. (Kept it in the ground and used Christmas tree lights and a frost cloth to keep it from freezing in the winter — but then it wasn't getting pollinated so now I have it in a pot where it is at last beginning to leaf/branch out).

I have had more success with peach and nectarine.
HU-622889343 thanked newsview63
L K
last year
We have a Meyer Lemon in a half barrel that we "winterize" by putting up a zone of insulation around it and, when needed, adding a light bulb inside. It's worked to keep it well above freezing on those rare occasions when it got below 32 degrees.
kittymoonbeam
11 months ago
pomegranate. very low care and reliable. Figs are easy too.
SoCalGardenNut
11 months ago
last modified: 11 months ago
For that zone, i woukd grow cherry trees. i love plums too, maybe some green gage varieties.
Lars
10 months ago
last modified: 10 months ago
Figs are my favorite for zone 9. Where I live (near the beach in Los Angeles), it pretty much never gets below 40°, and so I can easily grow mango, but I would not try it in zone 9. I also have white sapote and cherimoya, which I think might be possible for zone 9, and dragon fruit, which of course is not a tree. The white sapote makes lots of fruit, but it has to ripen on the tree and be used right away. The cherimoya has to be hand pollinated, and that is a pain but worth the effort. The fruit is somewhat similar to soursop but sweeter.

The figs I grew at my previous house were supposedly a Texas Red, which I got from a greenhouse in Texas, and they were incredibly sweet. I do not have room for them at my current house.

I have an avocado tree that gets pollinated from another tree in my neighborhood, and so it is not always necessary to have two trees, if your neighbors have trees.
icecaligardener
10 months ago
Since you're in zone 9, you'll be able to get an awesome variety of fruits! In terms of common fruits, look into peach, nectarine, and plums which all do really well in the area. As far as uncommon fruits go, persimmon, fig and pomegranate are all great (and tasty!) options!

Best fruit trees for Southern California

CA Kate z9

Comments (11)

socalgal_gw Zone USDA 10b Sunset 24

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